The New Normal
by Malmo722
Summary: Sookie, Eric, Tara and Alcide are what's left of the massively successful rock group Perihelion after frontman Bill not only quits the band but ends his ten year relationship with Sookie. The remaining members head to a secluded island to try to put the pieces together professional, personally and romantically. AU/AH/Sooric. Angst/Music/Rated M for later sexy stuffs and swearing.
1. The Split

**A/N: So I was watching this movie called **_**Rock My World**_** last night and it gave me an idea for a fan fiction. It is about music like almost all my other fan fictions because I love music a lot. This will be my side project until I finish my other True Blood story, Summer Nights. I****'****ll post randomly. **

**If anyone wants to be my beta please feel free to contact me. **

**So I have no idea what I am doing with this but I plan to have fun with it. The bolded text are news articles, Eric's POV are flashbacks and Sookie is present day. **

**I hope you all enjoy!**

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><p><strong>[Posted to TMZ .com]<strong>

**Tuesday, January 6, 2015 - 10:42 am - The rumours which have been swirling for months are true, Bill Compton and Sookie Stackhouse, members of rock group Perihelion have split. A representative of the band confirmed the split early this morning nearly three and a half months after Sookie was spotted without her engagement ring. **

**The couple began dating shortly after ****Perihelion**** hit it big ten years ago and had been engaged for the past four years. **

**There have been reports that Bill has been getting cozy with pop starlet Willa Burrell but hasn't been seen in public for almost two months, while Sookie hasn't been spotted since the outing which caused the rumours. Their band mates Eric Northman, Tara Thornton and Alcide Herveaux have also been incognito and have refused to comment on the matter. **

**While the end of their relationship may excite Bill Compton fan girls all over the world this split could mean the end of ****Perihelion****. No statement has been released regarding the future of one of the worlds biggest bands but we can only hope Bill and Sookie can keep it together for the music.**

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><p>I exhaled deeply and threw my phone across the room as I finished reading the hundredth article published that morning. All of them were almost exactly the same; 'Bookie is DONE!' 'Bookie have SPLIT!' 'Is Willa Burrell to Blame for the End of Bookie?' 'Women of the World Rejoice - Bill Compton is Finally Single!'.<p>

That was our stupid celebrity couple name, Bookie. I disliked it before and I fucking hated now. The bands publicist told me the rumours that were floating around were more damaging than the truth and it was best to finally admit that Bill and I had separated. The problem was that wasn't even the truth. Bill and I hadn't separated, he left, he tore himself away from our relationship, away from our band and just disappeared. If it was easier for people to call it a separation then let them call it that but it didn't change the fact it was a lie.

I could hear the paparazzi outside, those vultures benefiting off of my misery. I could hear their feet shuffling, their phones ringing and beeping, the occasional laugh, the sound of their equipment calibrating. I could smell their cigarettes, their cheap cologne, their fast food lunches. Even though I was ten stories up I could hear and smell it all.

The door flew open and the smell of coffee took the place of the men down below. "Up! Up, up, up!" Nora cried in her perky British accent. She placed the coffee on a table and threw open the blinds. "We can't wallow in self misery forever, Sookie." Her high heels clicked against the dark hard wood floor before I felt her weight on my king sized bed.

I threw the grey, 1020 thread count sheets over my head and turned away from her, groaning. "Actually, I can do whatever I want." I croaked, realizing I hadn't spoken in a few days. All the alcohol was doing a number on my voice, I'd have to cut it out of my diet if I wanted to continue to sing.

"Actually you can't, Russell is here to see you." She sounded sympathetic and I knew she cared about me but like nearly everyone in my life all she cared about was the continuation of Perihelion. She knew if I didn't eventually get up and start playing guitar again then she didn't have a job.

"Get rid of him." I spat but it was too late.

"Sookie!" He shouted, angering the perpetual hangover I had had for the past three months. I felt his weight on the bed shortly after.

My body tensed as I turned and sat up, looking at both him and Nora. Russell was losing more of his dull, brown hair and was nearly bald. His pores looked huge, his lips were chapped and he looked more tired than usual. He was wearing jeans and a T-shirt, hoping a casual approach would make everything feel less like work.

Nora looked like Nora, her narrow, angular eyes were emphasized with smokey makeup and winged eyeliner, blush highlighted her olive skin, her lips were stained blood red and her long black hair was curled, flowing over her shoulders. She was in her staple black skinny jeans, black chiffon blouse with a large black cardigan over top, black high heeled boots, an over sized sun hat and a single long gold chain around her neck. She was looking at her phone.

"How are you?" He questioned.

"How do I look Russell?" I asked him.

"You look like shit, Sookie." He said with no amusement on his face.

"Yeah? Well when your significant other of ten years leaves you then I can't wait to see how you look." I ran my hands through my long platinum blonde hair trying to get it under control.

"My wife _did_ leave me. We were married for fifteen years and she left me for my best friend. You and I have more in common than you think." He comfortingly rubbed my leg through the sheets and smiled.

I rolled my eyes. "What do you want Russell?" I moved away from his touch and crawled out of bed towards where Nora had left the coffee.

"The label is concerned, Sookie." He said standing, walking towards my dresser and throwing a pair of plaid pyjama pants and a black tank top my way to cover my gangly, nearly naked frame. My tan was starting to fade from being inside for so long, making my tattoos stand out against my pale complexion.

"Isn't the label always concerned?" I asked as I slowly maneuvered my way into the clothes and took the coffee into my hands, holding it like it was a life saving elixir. I pointed at Nora and snapped, "Cigarettes."

Nora fished a pack out of her black fringed purse and tossed them towards me. I sat down on the floor and lit one, letting the sweet nicotine calm my body. Up until three months ago I hadn't had a cigarette in six years.

"Sookie you are a part of one of the biggest bands in the world. You don't really think that just because Bill left your contract is void, do you? Perihelion owes Sonnet two more albums."

"And without Bill there is no Perihelion, how can something that doesn't exist owe you anything?"

"Perihelion still exists without Bill Compton." He stood up and walked towards me with his hands out like he was approaching a wild animal. "You and Eric can sing, Eric plays piano, we get a session musician to act as filler and it'll be like Bill never left."

I cocked an eyebrow. "Like he never left?" I stared at him, my breath becoming shallow and rage rising within me. "Get out." I spat.

"Sookie." He pleaded with me.

"Get the fuck out!" I shrieked.

"Sookie!" Russell shouted back and pinched the bridge of his nose. He calmed quickly. "Eric, Alcide and Tara have all agreed to go on a retreat that Sonnet will put together to see if the band will work without Bill. We just want to see if you can still perform the songs, still play together, play with the new member and write songs. All I'm asking is that you come to the office tomorrow morning at ten to discuss it."

I didn't want to discuss it, there was no Perihelion without Bill, at least not in my opinion. He had been there since the beginning, him, Eric and Alcide, the three founders. I had no doubt we could put out another album, Bill was our front man but Eric had what it took to take his place, he could step into that role effortlessly but that wasn't the point. The point was we were a band, the five of us and if one left then we were done.

"Sook, you are not the only person Bill's absence is effecting. Your band wants to make this work, you were _all _dealt a shitty hand here." Russell was now crouching in front of me. His face looked leathery, he had been spending too much time in Cabo.

I sighed and rubbed my eyes with the heel of my hands. "Fine."

"Great." Russell said smiling a sleazy smile and sprung up, heading for the door. "I'll see you tomorrow and try and take a shower will you."

"Get the fuck out Russell!" Nora shouted as she looked at her phone.

"Alright, alright." He put his hands up defensively and left the room.

Nora and I sat in silence until we heard the front door close and I looked up at her. "Has anyone heard anything?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Nope, not a word. Everyone's worried about you though and they miss you." She paused and took off her hat, shaking out her hair. "I know it's not my place but you should turn to them, it hasn't be easy for them either."

I nodded and dropped my cigarette into my almost finished coffee. "I know, I miss them too, I just..." I trailed off rubbing my eyes again, trying not to cry.

"He was your whole life Sook, I get it, I just think you're never gonna get over it until you start trying to get over it." We were silent while I lit another cigarette. "Has he contacted you?" She asked curiously.

I shook my head. "No, he knows better not too. He won't come to me first, not alone anyway."

"How do you know?" Nora asked.

"Cause he knows me and he knows the next time I see him I'm gonna fucking kill him." I blew out the rest of the smoke my words didn't disperse. I looked at the cigarette in my hand and decided this was also the last one, it probably wasn't helping my voice either.

Nora stared at me with a worried look, I was at the point in my break up where she didn't know if I was kidding or not.

I stood. "I'm gonna go shower, try to make myself presentable for tomorrow."

"Do you want me to call anyone in?" Nora asked.

"Yeah, Claude and Nan." Claude was my hairdresser and Nan was my masseuse. "Tell Claude to bring dye, something dark. I need a change."

She nodded.

"Thank you Nora." I walked up to her and threw an arm around her shoulders, hugging her.

"You're very welcome but you've gotta get off me, you smell like a sewer." We both laughed and I stepped away from her. "I know it doesn't seem like it," she continued, "but everything will be alright. You'll find a new normal."

"Yeah." I put the cigarette back in my mouth and let it dangle between my lips as I nodded at her comment. I knew she was right. Of course she was but my heart and head and body didn't want to listen. I was in agony and time was my only cure. The past thirteen years flew by but now time crawled.

Nan arrived first and I was on her table for over an hour. Claude arrived during that time and began mixing the colour. After Nan had left I sat down in his chair. "What do you want me to do?" He asked.

"Dark, really short, edgy." I said as he turned me away from the mirror. In the end my hair was a deep chocolate brown, shaved on the sides and back but long enough on top to style in a offbeat way or brushed over to the sides for a sweet and elegant look. I no longer looked like my old self and I loved it.

Nora was right, to get over Bill, over everything that had happened, I would have to start making small steps forward. This was the new me for this new chapter in my life.

My new normal.

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><p><strong>That was my start. What did you all think? <strong>

**Just so everyone knows this is a E/S pairing, it's just gonna take some time to get there. **

**I have posted links to pictures of how I picture everyone in this. For the most part they just look like the actors that play them, more sleek and edgy and not so country. **

**Songs will be used in this story and like all my other stories I will be using other artists songs and crediting them at the bottom. I will also leave links to the songs on my profile as well. **

**Please review if you can. It's always loved and appreciated. **


	2. The Reunion

**A/N: Thank you for all the positive reviews so far from Perfecta999, ciasteczko and foxgodess07. **

**I enjoy writing this so I****'****m happy someone is reading it. **

**Again if someone would like to be my beta please PM me. **

**Here is chapter 2!**

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><p>"Jesus, when you come back, you come back." Nora said fluttering around my apartment making sure we had everything we needed before heading to the Sonnet office. Her outfit was more or less the same as yesterday except she had a large wool coat on. "You're certainly not fucking around are you?"<p>

I wanted to look good, it would be the first time in three months I had appeared in public. If Bill was watching and waiting he would see these pictures. My hair was styled up into a pompadour, I was wearing black stilettos ankle boots, tight red high waisted jeans, a black lace bra and a fitted leather jacket which was open to show my midriff. My large brown eyes were rimmed with black eyeliner, my cheeks were rouged and my lips were a dark red cherry colour. "I look angry." I managed to spit out as I lit another cigarette. I'd quit tomorrow, today was going to be far too stressful.

"You should be fucking angry. You all should be." She collected keys off the coffee table and handed me a pair of aviators. "You ready?"

I shook my head. "No."

"It'll be..." She trailed off as she thought of something not so devastating to say.

"Fucking horrific." I finished her sentence as I stood, with my boots on I towered over her 5'3 frame more than I already did. I was 5'11 and my usually slim shape had become far too skinny since I had been living off of bourbon, cigarettes and coffee for the last three months. I'd have to make sure I started eating and exercising properly again. Eric would make sure of it, he was going to be angry when he saw me.

"It's two and a half meters between the building and car. What could go wrong?" She asked me as she ushered me out of the apartment and into the hallway.

"Famous last words." I muttered taking a drag.

The elevator ride was fine, nothing happened except the intake of chemicals and nicotine into my lungs. When the doors opened I could see them, the paps, waiting for me.

"Stand there." Nora said and she brought her phone to ear. "You ready?" She asked to who I could only assume was my driver. "The second she's in the car the door is closed and the car is off thirty seconds later, understand?" Another pause. "Good." She hung up her phone and looked at me. "Let's go."

Nora walked ahead of me as I braced myself, it had been ten years and I still wasn't entirely used to this part of fame. I put the cigarette in between my lips and pushed my glasses up on my face, taking a deep breath in. The door opened and I was drowned in a sea of flashes. The sounds of lenses opening and closing, capturing me forever in a moment, my name being screamed at me, superficially questions about my appearance, questions about Perihelion, questions about Bill I would never answer.

Everything moved in slow motion but in reality I was outside for no more than ten seconds. The door shut behind me and I took a long drag of the cigarette with a shaky hand.

"Now that wasn't so bad." Nora said cheerfully as she climbed into the passenger seat next to the driver.

"It was okay." I admitted. "Not as bad as it could have been."

Nora was looking at her phone. "Everyone is already at the office." The car took off down the street.

"A circus?" I inquired.

"Eric described it as a zoo. We'll take you around back, I'll let Russell know to expect you there." Nora was a lot of things and an amazing personal assistant was definitely one of them.

A few paparazzi followed us from our apartment to the office but were denied access to the delivery entrance as we pulled in. I watched the enormous crowd waiting at the front of the building as we passed. Normally, my old normal, there would never be this many photographers but because of the spilt I was tabloid gold and everyone wanted their cut. They were hoping to catch a glimpse of me or more importantly Bill.

I sunk back into my seat and threw my cigarette out the window as we drove towards the back of the building. We stopped abruptly and Nora jumped out of the car opening my door.

I walked with with her until we reached a set of service elevators, an intern was waiting for us. "Hello Ms. Stackhouse, we're very happy you could come." He smiled at me. He was young, his acne was blending in with the freckles on his face and his red hair looked soft like goose feathers. He couldn't have been more than a hundred pounds soaking wet and he was sweating furiously. Someone had given him this chance to collect me, if he could do it without fucking it up that could mean a promotion and anything was better than being an intern.

"Thanks for having me." I smiled taking off my glasses.

He motioned to the elevators and we all stepped inside and took it as high as it would take us. At the tenth floor we got off and switched to the actual elevators in the building. The intern said nothing to me, he stood silently watching the numbers change as we past all the other unimportant floors. I heard once that a person's success could be determined based on the floor their meetings were held on and we were going to the tippy top.

Once the doors opened the kid took us the final door at the end of a long hallway. "This is where I leave you," he said smiling.

"Thanks." I smiled back.

He just nodded and walked away while I turned to look at Nora. "Make sure someone knows that kid did a good job." I told her as she nodded and walked in the direction we had just come from. I had had handlers in the past who had asked me all sorts of personal questions, had tried to give me demo tapes, and snap photos without permission but this intern was respectful and efficient. He deserved to be awarded for that.

I was alone and stood staring at the door nervously. Finally I put my hand on the doorknob and let myself in. The room was large, a kitchen was right in front of me and a sitting area with a coffee table and TV was beyond that. To my left was a long conference table with another TV on the far wall, the windows were floor to ceiling and lined the farthest wall. Everything was either cream or grey in colour.

I realized the room was silent and everyone was looking at me. "Sook?" Tara finally said. She was closest to me in the kitchen making a tea.

I looked over at her and nodded. She was wearing a white fitted dress with capped sleeves that came to just above the knee. It hugged her in all the right places and looked flawless against her dark skin. Her hair was shorter since the last time I had seen her. It was now a warm brown colour and straight, resting on her shoulders. She wore no make-up, she didn't need to, her lashes were naturally long, her chocolate coloured eyes wide, her cheeks carried a natural flush and her lips were large and pouty. She was so beautiful and it hit me in that moment how much I had missed one of my dearest friends. "Tara." I whispered as I ran to hug her. "I missed you."

She laughed wrapping her arms tightly around me. The heels she was wearing helped close our height difference. "I missed you too babe." She kissed my cheek. "Don't disappear again, okay? We're all here for you and we can't imagine how difficult it must be for you but please let us try."

"I'm sorry." I managed to say through my tears that were now rolling down my cheeks.

"Don't be sorry." She cooed as she rubbed my back. "I love the hair by the way."

I touched the back of my head as I stepped away from her. "Yeah, I think I needed a change. It's really drastic I know."

"It looks good." Alcide smirked as he walked over to me wearing his usual white t-shirt, loose fitting blue jeans and converse sneakers. His tattoos peaking out here and there. "Where'd you go, Legs?" He asked as he pulled me into a hug. Legs was my nickname because I had legs for days. Eric had started calling me it to annoy me but eventually it stuck.

"I needed some me time." I inhaled the familiar smell of his black-brown hair. He had been using the same shampoo since high school, Head and Shoulders.

"Well you got three solid months of it, you think you're ready to do this again? Join the circus one more time?" He asked releasing me.

"I want to be." I answered truthfully. I couldn't imagine giving up music all together and being in this room with all of them made me want to believe that I could do this. The problem with being in the same room with all them was it was a glaring remind of who was missing, it was the reason we were forced to be here.

"We'll get there Sook, don't panic." He encouragingly nudged my shoulder with his fist. "You should go talk to Blue Eyes over there, he's been going out his mind wanting to see you."

Both Alcide's gaze and my own drifted to where Eric was sitting. He was in the farthest chair and his feet were propped up on the table. He was reclining and I couldn't tell if he was sleeping or not because of the large black aviators that covered his eyes.

I walked up to him slowly trying to decide what to say. Out of all the people I shut out during my meltdown, which was still very much in process, Eric's presence was missed the most. I had actually seen him once during that time but our meeting didn't end well. Even though I had known Tara longer, Eric was my best friend. We just had a connection I couldn't explain, I instantly calmed in his presence even when we were at each other's throats, which was a lot. Eric and I always needed to be right and we had short, fiery tempers. I always called him out on his shit and he always called me out on mine but we could never stay apart for very long.

His hair was slicked back and he had grown a beard, thick blonde hair covered the lower half of his face. He had been going to the gym and his black Modern Lovers t-shirt strained against his bulging arms and full chest. He had gotten a new tattoo, finding space amongst his nearly covered arms. The fresh ink was a pair of red lips wedged in between a portrait of his childhood dog Toby and the Perihelion tattoo we all had. His dark jeans were new, fitting him perfectly and a pair of black dress shoes adorned his feet.

I stood next to him silently. There were a thousand things I had to say, I should say. I'm sorry. I missed you. I needed you but I'm so fucking stupid and isolated myself. You're my best friend and I love you.

But that wasn't what I said, what I said was much more simple. "Hey." I lightly kicked his leg with my foot.

He stirred and looked in my direction. He took his feet off the table and removed his glasses, turning his chair towards me. He looked tired and stressed. "So this is what a quarter life crisis looks like on you?" There was no humour in his words.

"Do you not like it?" I asked, my hand immediately touching my hair.

"When was the last time you ate?" He asked, I knew my weight loss was going to piss him off.

"I don't know." I shrugged.

"You don't know? Sookie, if you're going to shut us out at least take care of yourself." He sighed.

"I've just…" I shook my head and rubbed the back of my head. "I'll make more effort to eat correctly." I didn't want to fight with him, not today.

He stood and walked towards me stopping only inches away. I couldn't look anywhere other than his icy blue eyes, he was just taller than me and held my gaze. His demeanour, the way he was carrying his body told me how he was feeling, he was serious, angry and sad. "Don't do that again, " he said sternly. "Don't fucking disappear, don't shut me out and stop fucking destroying yourself over him." His voice never went higher than a whisper.

I nodded, crying instantly before I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled my body flush against his. "I'm sorry." I muttered before placing a kiss on his neck. "I'm so sorry." He just tightened his hold on me and placed a kiss on my temple as I rested my head on his shoulder. "Everything reminds me of him." I sobbed into his shoulder.

"I know." He murmured. "I miss him too."

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do now." I was trying to control myself but my emotions were too raw next to Eric and I couldn't stop.

"You have to find a new normal." He consoled.

It wasn't a coincidence that I had heard this saying more than once in less than a day. It was a band motto of sorts. After the release of our first album all of us were having trouble adjusting to the massive changes in our lives, we were upset that our lives were no longer 'normal'. Eric was the first one to say the words, he said them to me three and a half weeks before our first Grammys. After that everything seemed easier to deal with, to let go of the past and accept the present and future. It also gave us the title of our second album.

I nodded. "I need time." I said stepping away from him wiping my face, "but you're right, I can't destroy myself over this. I have to stop doing what I'm doing."

A small smile spread across his lips and he squeezed my hand reassuringly as Russell, Nora and our manager Sam Merlotte entered the room.

"Hey everyone!" Russell exclaimed as Sam began hugging Tara and Alcide, it had been awhile since we had seen him.

Russell looked over my way. "Sookie what happened to you?" He took a seat at the head of the table. "Are you a lesbian now?" He was wearing a black business suit and I decided I liked Russell better business instead of casual.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes Russell because my sexual orientation is directly correlated with the length of my hair." I shook my head.

I sat down in the chair beside Eric's and I heard him mumble, "prick."

I laughed at his little jab at Russell and realized it was the first I could remember laughing in a long time, a real laugh.

Sam approached Eric and myself and kissed my cheek while giving my shoulder a squeeze. "It's good to see you."

"You too." I smiled warmly. Sam was forty-two years old, he was average height, dusty blonde-brown hair, narrow blue-grey eyes and a permanent five o'clock shadow. He had been our manager since we released our first album. He loved the money but he loved the music more and us most. We were given all the credit for our success but I believed we wouldn't have made it this far without Sam.

He shook Eric's hand and took a seat. Tara and Alcide found their seats and Nora settled into the couch, eyes glued to her phone.

"Alright guys lets talk about why you're all here." Russell sang happily. "What the fuck are you gonna do now?"

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><p><strong>[Posted by Just Jared]<strong>

**Wednesday, January 7, 2015 - 11:02am - Is Sookie Stackhouse in trouble? The guitarist from band Perihelion made her first appearance in three months today rocking a very short, dark hair style and a shockingly gaunt frame. Heartbreak seems to have taken a toll on Stackhouse who ended her ten year relationship with the bands front man Bill Compton in the fall of last year. **

**An insider close to the band said Stackhouse has spiralled over the past three months and her scarily skinny frame could be the result of heavy drug use. Friends and family have been encouraging her to enter rehab but she has refused to seek treatment. **

**Sookie was headed to Sonnet Indie****'****s head office today joined by her remaining band mates giving hope to all Perihelion fans out there. Hopefully Sookie will get the help she needs so we can get new music sooner rather than later.**

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><p><strong>What did you guys think? I<strong>**'****ve introduced the band and I****'****m very excited to expand and write these characters. Also I love tattooed Eric. I love tattoos. **

**I also want to say, I have no idea how the music industry actually works, this is how I wish it worked. **

**Please review if you have the time. **

**Thanks for reading!**


	3. What Are We Going To Do Now?

**A/N: Thank you to LostInSpace33, USrockerchick, covenmama, Perfecta999, ashmo2000, Kate and ciasteczko for reviewing the last chapter. **

**Also I need a beta, if you want to do it or know anyone else that want to please let me know. **

**I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

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><p>"So you've lost your front man and piano player," Russell said rubbing his hands together, "but that doesn't mean Perihelion is over."<p>

"How?" I asked. "How is it not over?"

Russell's eyes lit up. "I'm glad you asked Sookie, Eric and yourself are very talented singers so the both of you will take over lead vocals. Tara and Alcide will continue to sing backup like they've always done, harmonies are 'your thing' and all that jazz." He winked at me and then looked over at Eric." Eric you can play the piano and the musician we've selected to round out the group will cover everything else." He sounded excited, like a child getting ready to play with a new toy.

"Don't you think _we_ should decide who rounds out the group?" Eric asked with irritation flowing under his words.

"Believe me, he's the best." Russell reassured.

"What if I don't want to exclusively play piano? What if Tara and Alcide want to sing lead? What if we want to change the structure of the band now that Bill has left?" Eric questioned.

"Can I smoke?" I asked fishing a pack of cigarettes out of my pocket.

"I'm fine singing back up." Alcide admitted.

"Can I smoke?" I asked again.

"I wouldn't mind trying to sing a little more." Tara confided.

"We can work on all of this on the retreat." Russell was trying to keep his cool but he was becoming frustrated with us.

"Can. I. Smoke?" I questioned for a final time.

"Whatever, it's fine." Russell dismissed me with a wave of his hand.

"Well, if she's gonna smoke then I'm gonna smoke." Eric said slipping a cigarette out of the pack, I lit mine and then his.

"No Eric, you were doing so well." Tara said disappointed.

He shrugged and took a long inhale in and exhaled out in ecstasy before looking back at Russell. "Don't tell us how we are going to structure this band, we'll see how it goes and let the chips fall where they may." Eric hated these meetings almost as much as I did.

"Okay but from my position it's not that easy, people are used to a certain look, Perihelion has always been a certain way. I think it's important to have the right front person." Russell shifted uncomfortably.

"You mean people are going to feel more comfortable watching two white blonde people sing lead vocals instead someone who looks like me." Tara spat.

"That's not what I said." Russell said defensively.

"But it's what you meant." I piped up. "We'll decide and if you like it then take it and if not then tough titties." I crossed my arms tightly looking away from him.

"So do we get to meet this new musician or what?" Sam asked changing the subject, looking at Russell the way we all looked at Russell with annoyance and contempt.

Russell pushed a button on the intercom next to him. "Stacey, can you tell Mr. Reynolds he can come in now."

We sat impatiently waiting for Mr. Reynolds to enter the room. "How long did you quit for?" I asked Eric.

"Six weeks."

"Awe Eric, why did you start again?" I asked him.

"I could ask you the same question." He took a drag.

"I'm going through a quarter life crisis, remember?" I said through gritted teeth.

"I hate to break it to you Legs, but we all are." He cocked an eyebrow.

I rolled my eyes and looked over at the door when our new band member came in. He was about my height, he was wearing blue jeans and a plaid dress shirt with a navy blue sweater over top. His skin was dark, he had impeccably groomed facial hair, a paperboy cap was on his head and dark brown eyes peered out from behind black thick rimmed glasses. He approached the table slowly like he was a new student in a new class. "Hey, I'm Lafayette."

"Yes, this is Lafayette Reynolds and we think he'll be the best addition to the band." Russell said smiling up at him. "And look he's black, I have no problem with black people being in music."

All of us stared at him with a stunned look before Sam rubbed his face and muttered, "good God, Russell."

LaFayette ignored Russell's comment and took the seat next to mine.

"What do you play?" Alcide asked as Eric got up to find something to act as an ashtray.

"I play guitar, drums, piano, stand up bass and the accordion. I can also sing." He said straightening the cuffs of his shirt.

"Sing 'Sunday Kind of Love'." I asked him bluntly.

"Sook," Tara tutted.

"What? Harmonies _are _our thing, if he can't harmonize then what's the point?" I asked holding my cigarette carefully so ash wouldn't go everywhere.

"I agree with Sookie, I wanna hear what he sounds like too." Sam said looking at LaFayette. "I mean if he's going to be the new member, I'd like to know what we're all working with."

I flicked my cigarette ash into the shot glass Eric had found for us. LaFayette looked around the table, his gaze finally landed on me and I nodded, motioning for him to go ahead.

He took a deep breath in and sang the first verse, he was controlled, he had the right pitch and he was in tune. I felt a smile spread across my face, if I was going to have to work with someone else this guy seemed like a good person to start with.

He finished and nervously stared at the table, waiting for us to say something.

"Sookie Stackhouse." I said leaning forward to shake his hand. "That was good." I smiled.

"Yeah, really good. I'm Eric Northman." Eric reached over me to take LaFayette's hand.

LaFayette let out a laugh of relief. "Thanks."

Sam, Alcide and Tara all took turns introducing themselves before we got back to business.

"Now that you've met LaFayette, this is what Sonnet is proposing. We don't do this for many artists but we think you would all benefit from a retreat."

"What is it exactly?" Tara asked.

"We have a private island off the coast of Brazil near Rio. No paparazzi, no stupid interview questions, no irritating Perez Hilton articles talking about your clothes or hair or current weight situation. You'll go for no less than a month but no more than three." Russell took a breath. "It's just the five of you on the island, alone, trying to put Perihelion back together again," Russell looked over at me, "and yourselves as well or whatever _Eat, Pray, Love_ shit you want to get out of this vacation."

My brow furrowed at his stupid comment directed towards me. "So is it like _Survivor_ or will there be a place for us to actually stay?" I asked.

"There's a big, beautiful seven bedroom house, all the bedrooms have en suites, a large living room, dream kitchen, TV room, den, a gym and pool." He smiled. "A maid will come in three times a week and a cook will live on the island with you. Don't worry, we know how to treat our artists."

"No cooks, we don't need one." Tara said firmly. I knew for a fact that Tara and Eric loved cooking.

"Fine, we'll have someone bring in groceries two times a week." Russell compromised.

"Is one of those rooms temperature controlled?" Eric asked. "In that heat the instruments will warp."

"I'm not bring Beth if she's gonna warp." The name of Alcide's bass was Beth.

"There is a small recording studio on the island. Temperature controlled, your instruments will be safe in there."

"So a month vacation to put ourselves and the band back together?" Tara questioned.

"Exactly, Sam you are welcome to come too. It's important to be with them during this time." Russell smiled warmly and Sam nodded cautiously.

"Okay but what's the point of seeing if we work as a band if we can't sing any of our songs, Bill is a co-writer on all of them. Do you really think he is just going to let us continue touring using our old songs?" I asked looking at everyone else at the table to see if they were wondering the same thing.

"Bill is in breach of contract, I'm sure we can come to some sort of agreement with him." Russell smiled serenely.

We all took this information in. I think we all thought starting over without Bill would be harder, some legal matter or creative issue would get in the way or the music wouldn't flow the same way but it wasn't like that. It was almost as if he was never even a member.

"Well if you get a hold of him let him know I'm dying to speak to him." The anger in my voice rose with every word.

"I second that." Eric piped up.

"I have some words for him too." Alcide said with an irritated tone.

"Me too." Tara sounded irked.

It was clear that Bill had pissed off everyone when he took off without a word.

"What about significant others?" Tara asked changing the subject.

"What about them?" Russell questioned.

"I'm not going to leave Eggs for a whole month, possibly more." Tara said.

Sam nodded. "I agree, Luna is pregnant and I don't think I can go if I can't bring her with me."

"Luna's pregnant?" Alcide asked with a goofy smile on his face.

"Yeah." Sam started to blush and nodded.

"Congratulations man." Eric said as we all took our turn to congratulate him.

I saw this as an opportunity to try to get out of the retreat. "Well, if Sam can't go so there's really no point in us doing this." I said running my hand through my hair ruining any style it had.

"I didn't say that, I said Luna had to be able to come." Sam said slowly, he didn't like that I turned what he said around to benefit me.

"Significant others are welcome, we can find her a doctor in Rio to make sure her pregnancy is going along well, even fly her ob-gyn in if needed." Russell said.

"Eggs is going to be so happy." Tara said delightedly.

"My husband and I were talking about taking a vacation." Lafayette smiled, already enjoying the perks of being with the band.

"Okay, but that's a lot of trouble for you to go through just for us." I said getting nervous.

"We believe the juice is worth the squeeze." Russell was calm, that was because Russell knew he was going to win.

"I don't know, I just don't know if I can be around all these couples and your happiness. I can't handle it." I said shaking my head. "Not yet."

"Well thank God it's all about _you_ Sookie, I was worried for a second there you actually gave a shit about anyone other than yourself." Eric spat out at me.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" I asked annoyed, turning to face him. His eyes were dark and I knew we were about to fight, it never took very long with us.

"I get it Sook, he left you and that's devastating but you are not the only person he abandoned." He lowered his head, resting his forehead in his palm and rubbing the hair at the crown of his head with the other hand, his voice sounded strained. "At least you got a goodbye, he ended it with you but I got nothing." He looked distraught and I could see the tears welling in his eyes. "I have spoken to Bill everyday for the last sixteen years and then one day he just disappeared without a trace," He sat up and scoffed looking out the window instead of at me. "I mean the only reason we know he's still alive is because his parents called you to tell us he was okay." His voice was steadily rising with every word he said. "He won't return my texts, he won't return my emails or phone calls. Bill _was_ your fiancé but he's my best friend. Did you ever for a second think about what that's like for me? Or Alcide? Or Tara? He won't speak to me and I have no clue why." He looked away from me shaking his head as a tear rolled down his cheek.

I hadn't for a moment in the three months I locked myself away thought about how shitty it had been for my bandmates. Eric was clearly distressed, confused and angry, they were the emotions I was feeling myself and my selfishness and ignorance to his feelings made me feel guilty, so naturally I lashed out. "I have no idea why he just left me either, you know." I yelled at him.

"He left you because he doesn't love you anymore." He shouted at me. I stared at him, I could see the regret in his eyes, he knew he shouldn't have said it but it had been three months with almost no contact, we were hurting and without Bill here, we were lashing out at each other. I turned away from him, squaring my jaw and trying my hardest not to cry but the tears came anyway. They fell silently down my cheeks.

"And then you disappeared." He whispered to me, the same amount of anger still on his voice.

I looked over at him. "You saw me during that time." I managed to say through my tears.

"What? When I came over to your place to box up all his shit cause you couldn't bare the sight of it anymore while you hid in your bedroom, chain smoking and drinking yourself into a stupor?" He scoffed. "How lucky am I that you allowed me to do that." His voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"You're such an asshole sometimes." I shook my head.

"Yep that's me, you friendly neighbourhood asshole." He wiped his face nabbing any stray tears.

I slammed my hand on the table causing everyone to jump a little. "I fucked up okay! I did, I know I did. I handled it the wrong way, I should have turned to you, to you all but I didn't, it was just easier to be alone. I had never been through a break up before and I did what felt natural at the time. I'm sorry I didn't call you so you could come over and braid my fucking hair and eat a pint of chunky monkey. I handled it the best I could." I shouted at him lighting another cigarette. "And I'm sorry if that wasn't good enough for you." I muttered, the filter in between my lips.

The room was uncomfortably silent as Eric and I took the time we needed to calm down. I hated fighting with him, he wasn't wrong about anything he said, I knew I fucked up but I just needed a little compassion right now and was not getting it. Maybe this retreat was what I needed, what we all needed.

Eric broke the silence. "Sook, listen, you need to go on this retreat because the band is a unit and it needs to be fixed, we can't do that without you. You need to go on this trip, you need an intervention, you need to detox." Eric's voice was calm as he spoke to me.

"I'm not an addict, what the fuck do I need an intervention for?" I asked looking at him, my make-up no doubt all over my face.

"You can be addicted to things other than drugs and alcohol, Sookie." He took another cigarette from the pack and lit it, turning away from me.

I sighed and rubbed my forehead. "Fine, I'll go."

"Wonderful." Russell chirped happily like he didn't witness our full blown meltdown. "We can have everything all ready to go by Monday, is that too much or not enough time?"

"I still need to talk to Luna but it should be okay." Sam said.

"I'm in." LaFayette smiled.

"Me too." Tara took out her phone and began texting who I could only assume was Eggs.

"Debbie will be thrilled." Alcide said as he stood and took out his phone to call his wife.

"Great, I'll send you all the details and meet you at the airport on Monday." He left the room.

I shot up out of my seat. "Nora, lets go." I moved towards the door.

"No, no, no," Eric grabbed my arm. "Where do you think you're going?"

I furrowed my brow. "To my house, you know, where I live."

"No, there's no fucking way I'm letting you go back to the Grey Gardens you've created for yourself so you can drink and starve yourself some more. You're coming home with me." He laced his fingers with mine and held on tight.

"Eric, I'm fine." I lied.

"You're not but okay. Nora will collect your things and pack for the trip," he looked at Nora and she nodded, "and I'm going to take you home and cook for you until you're a size I deem healthy and acceptable."

"I can cook for myself." I said as he tugged me towards Tara.

"No you can't but I can and you need to eat."

"I'm not a child Eric." I spat.

"I would have believed that before but you just locked yourself in a room for ninety days like fucking Howard Hughes, now hug Tara." He pushed me towards her.

She was chuckling at our childish arguing. "I know it doesn't seem like it now but this trip will be good for you Sook, it'll be good for all of us, we've been growing apart for awhile." She leaned in an hugged me.

I nodded and squeezed her tightly before separating and going to hug Alcide. "Don't worry Sook, we are just seeing what happens. Work on your tan while we're there." He smiled his reassuring Alcide smile, the smile that felt like home, my old normal.

"Yeah." I smiled as convincingly as I could.

I said a final goodbye to Sam and Eric escorted me to the elevators. "Where do you live again?" I asked him.

"Chelsea." He replied quickly.

"Ugh, I fucking hate Chelsea." We entered the elevator.

"Well Chelsea hates you too." He paused. "It's better than the Upper East Side."

I smacked him in the chest. "I like the Upper East Side."

We stood in silence as the elevator descended. "And you'll learn to like Chelsea." Eric said quietly.

"We'll see." I took his hand as the elevator doors opened. I took a deep breath realizing we were leaving through the front. "I can't go out this way Eric." The paps had doubled since I had arrived.

Eric looked back at me with a smile on his face. "Come on baby, let's put on a show." He winked, fixed my hair, smoothed my makeup, put my glasses on my face and dragged me through the front door.

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><p><strong>What did you all think?<strong>

**There's chapter 3. I'm starting to form this story in my head and I'm excited about it. I also decided that it's going to be way sexier than I originally planned. I'm not a very good erotica writer and I want to work on that so I'm going to use this story to do that. The sexy time won't start right away, I still want to establish a story, but it will be earlier and more frequent than I usually do. **

**Thank you so much for reading and if you have time please leave a review. They are so incredibly encouraging. **


	4. Mac, Cheese and Awards

**A/N: Thank you for such a wonderful response to the story so far. Thank you to MissRon, Abelizsm, Perfecta999, ljhjelm49, 34ken, kate, covenmama, ciasteczko, ashmo2000, LostInSpace33, jroxyraytech and puffally for reviewing the last chapter. I love the reviews so so much. **

**This is a short chapter but I think it's an important chapter before they go away.**

**I'm still looking for a beta if anyone is interested. I just need a second pair of eyes to catch errors I've missed. **

**Hope you all enjoy.**

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><p><strong>[Posted to ]<strong>

**Wednesday, January 7, 2015 - 3:07pm - Did Bookie end because of new couple Sooric? **

**Bill Compton was no where in sight as Sookie Stackhouse and Eric Northman looked very happy and very cozy leaving the office of their record label, Sonnet Indie, today hand in hand.**

**Here****'****s what one source had to say about the hottest new couple in music: **

"_Sookie was devastated when things ended with Bill and Eric was there to pick up __the pieces. They have both known each other for so long they never thought of each __other in that way but when things are right, they__'__re right. I__'__ve never seen either of __them this happy._

**While we hope this new super couple is here to stay it could very well be a rebound and it****'****s clear Sookie likes to date in the workplace. **

**Debbie Herveaux should watch her man, Sookie could be coming for Alcide next.**

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><p>"This is fucking bullshit." I complained, slamming my laptop closed and tossing it to the other end of Eric's large navy blue sofa.<p>

"It's just a bunch of garbage they make up to sell advertising space and papers, ignore it." Eric asked taking bowls out of the cupboard.

"Who is this source in all of these articles?" I asked baffled. "As a band, we only talk to each other, there is no outside source."

"There isn't a source, it's a bunch of malarkey the writer makes up to give their untrue article more truth." He said dishing up whatever he had made us. "Why do you read it if it pisses you off so much?"

"I want to know what my image is, what people are saying. It affects the band as much as it affects me personally." I said running my hands through my hair sighing angrily. I looked up to the nearly comically large TV and instantly felt comforted, he had put on _Singin' in the Rain_ for me, my favourite movie.

"So what? They are speculating that we're dating, is that really the worst thing?" He asked as he placed a bowl of white cheddar mac and cheese in front of me, it smelled incredible and my mouth instantly started salivating. I hadn't eaten a proper meal in months.

"You put tomatoes and bacon in it." I cooed digging in.

"It's your favourite." He said quietly as he began to eat from his own bowl.

"Thank you." I tried to say through my food, it came out all mumbled and muffled before I swallowed. "And to get back to what we were talking about, no it's not the worst thing but they aren't reporting that are they?" I wiped my face with a napkin and reached for the glass of red wine he put out for me. "They are reporting that I'm some cheating cock hungry whore who is running through my band like I can't control myself. I don't want Debbie to freak out. I love Debbie."

"Well at least they aren't reporting that you're a crack hungry whore anymore." He grinned at me.

I rolled my eyes. "Stop finding a silver lining." I scolded him.

"Stop complaining then." He scrunched up his nose at me while a small smile pulled at the corner of his mouth before he went back to eating his food.

I smiled back as I nestled into his large couch and continued to eat.

Eric's apartment was cozy, that was the only way to describe it. It had a relatively large living area and high ceilings, a piano was in the far corner in between floor to ceiling windows and his television. All the wood from the floor to the furniture to the beams in the ceiling were dark and all the other furnishings were white, black, grey or navy. To the right was his kitchen, not too large but big enough to have all the gadgets he needed to cook whatever he wanted. There was a full bathroom off his modest foyer, with chandelier over head and marble floors. Down the hall was one more bathroom, two more bedrooms, one guest and one converted into his office/award room and his master bedroom with en suite. It was small compared to Bill's and my place, the place I was going to have to think about selling soon.

I had a second helping much to Eric's pleasure and changed into one of his large t-shirts, not wanting to wear the pyjamas Nora packed for me. I sat beside him and looked over his tattoos as he watched some Animal Planet show about puppies. "Whose mouth is this?" I asked as I let my fingers traces over the cherry red lips of his new tattoo.

He looked down at his bicep and then back to me. "It's your mouth."

I looked closer looking at wear the lips parted, I now realized they were singing and I could see the gap of my teeth. "Why?"

He shrugged. "It made me feel closer to you. I missed you Sook."

I smiled at his honesty. "I missed you too." I paused. "You're gonna run out of room soon."

"I have lots of bare skin left."

"I can't see any."

"Are you trying to get me naked, Legs?" He asked with a wicked grin.

"Maybe." I cocked an eyebrow. "I mean considering everyone thinks we're dating now and all." I gave him a goofy grin before cuddling up to him. "Are you seeing anyone?"

He shook his head as he slowly rubbed my arm with his thumb. "Nah."

"It's been a year since Katy, are you not ready?" I asked, looking up at him.

"I just think I haven't met the right person for me right now." He looked down at me. "I'll know when I meet them, I'm in no rush."

I nodded slowly. "Okay, you know I just want you to be happy, right?" I told him.

"I know." He said as he kissed the top of my head.

"I hate your beard by the way." I just wanted to keep talking to him, I had missed his company so much that I was binging hard now that we were back together.

He laughed rubbing it with his hand. "Well if you hate it, I'm keeping it. It's going to get crazy long."

I scrunched up my face in disgust. "Ew, no."

"It's gonna get Dumbledore long." He teased.

"No don't, you're too handsome to hide your face with a beard." I said touching the stiff bristles of hair on his face.

He chuckled softly. "Maybe I'll shave it soon." He said stroking the other side.

"Please, please do." I said snuggling back down against him and he pulled me closer.

We were silent for quite some time as we watched a bunch of different kinds of puppies fall all over themselves in a field. "I think I'm gonna go to bed." I finally said standing, looking down at him. "This day has been incredibly long for me."

He nodded as I left the room and walked down the hallway. His office door was open and the glitter of gold caught my eye. His office was where he kept all his awards, the awards we had won together. Thirteen Grammys, a Golden Globe, countless MTV Music Awards, Teen Choice Awards, People's Choice Awards, American Music Awards, Billboard Awards, awards from different countries equivalent of the Grammys. They were packed on shelves, leaning against walls and piled on the floor.

"I think I'm gonna pack most of them up and put them in storage. Everything other than the Grammys and the Golden Globe." There was a bitter undertone in his voice about the Golden Globe. We were nominated for the Best Original Song Oscar that year too, we were favoured to win but ultimately we lost to some Disney/Pixar movie. Eric wanted to win badly, he'd always had a love for the movies and an Oscar would have made him incredibly happy. "There's just too much and I want more of a music room."

I didn't respond as I walked up to the Grammys and let my fingers run over the first one we ever won, Best New Artist. "Can you believe we did this?" I asked looking at him. "Ten years and look at everything we accomplished." Seeing all the awards made me think about all the other things we had accomplished, all the songs we had written, all the fans we had made, we received letters by the bag full thanking us for making the music we had. How a song could change a life, score the meeting of lovers, help someone through a breakup, help someone feel like life was worth living when there seemed like there was nothing left to live for.

A song could save a life and that's when I realized I needed music, my music, our music to save mine. I couldn't imagine my life without it and it was the thing that was going to get me through the shit I was going through now. I would write it all out.

"I want to go back to this." I said still staring at the award.

"What?" Eric asked walking up behind me.

"Do you remember the night we won this?" I asked him.

"Of course I do." He said like I was crazy to imply he had forgotten.

"We were so excited, we played like we were gonna die the next day, like nothing else mattered, I had never felt so alive." I frowned as I looked at him. "I don't feel that way anymore." I shook my head. "When we go away on this retreat I want to go back to the beginning. Forget about our image and what's expected of us. I want to stop writing songs with the hopes that they be hits and start writing again because if I don't I'll feel like I'll explode, like their are no other words that can go on the page other than the words flowing from my pen."

Eric was beaming at me. "Have you written anything lately?"

"Not much but can feel the need to right under my skin. What about you?" I asked him.

"I've written a song every single day for the past 15 years." He admitted.

"Why haven't you offered more when we record?" I questioned not knowing this about him.

"Because most of them aren't very good."

"I'm sure that's not true. No more hiding because we think something's not good. This album will have no rules, everything is welcome and no idea is vetoed." I suggested.

He nodded. "We should get Tara and Alcide on the phone."

"And LaFayette." I reminded him. We stared at each other surrounded by our accolades. "It's over, Bill and I, I know that." I finally admitted out loud. "I will be fine eventually, I just think I need to write him away. Does that make sense?"

"Yes." He strode towards me and scooped me into a hug. "We'd been drifting for awhile. We'll be great again."

I smiled and grabbed his hand and a pad of paper heading back to Eric's living room, setting up a conference call with the rest of the band. We talked for hours, we talked about themes, about what we had written lately, what direction we wanted to go in. LaFayette was vocal, suggesting possibly a more electronica sound, "I'm good with a synthesizer," which excited us all, we had never recorded a song in that genre before.

Exhausted, we finally said good night and Eric and I fell into bed. He cuddled me close and I felt comforted by his touch. "It nice to be held again." I told him. He responded by nuzzling closer to me. "I'm sorry again, about everything." I whispered knowing he was drifting off to sleep.

"Don't be sorry." He mumbled.

We were silent again for a few more moments. "I love you, Eric." I said as I closed my eyes.

"I love you too, Legs." He responded before sleep took us.

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><p><strong>What did you all think? <strong>

**The first Eric POV is next. His POV****'****s are from the past and will be in italics. **

**Please review if you can!**

**Thanks for reading!**


	5. The Audition

**A/N: Thank you to kinnik, Aimeeok, sugarspinsister, outinritefield1, ashmo2000, ciasteczko, sybilh, E. B. Rhome, 34ken, kate, evasmomforever, gizmokc8, MissRon, Guest, Perfecta999, Estrella75, kelpie169, suzyq59 and LostInSpace33 for reviewing the last chapter. The response to this story has been wonderful and I love you all for reading, reviewing, favouriting and following it. **

**I found a beta! Her name is kelpie169 and she****'****s awesome. She runs this really cool fan fiction blog that you should all check out called Kelpie****'****s Korner (I****'****ll put a link on my profile). **

**So I****'****m going to start alternating between the past and the present, Sookie is the present and Eric is the past and it****'****s all written in italics. I hope this works and I hope you all like it.**

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><p><em><strong>Monday, October 7, 2002 - Bon Temps High School - Auditorium<strong>_

_We managed to book the auditorium for three hours on a Monday afternoon. We needed a second guitarist to round out the band; it would give us a better sound or so Bill said. I wasn't against it and having another guitarist _would_ allow us to do more, but finding a fifth member was easier said than done. _

"_I can__'__t believe we'll need to do this to find a new drummer too." Bill said angrily. We had been watching mediocre guitarists who barely knew their cords all afternoon and we were all annoyed. _

_"What's wrong with Terry?" Alcide asked shovelling chips into his mouth. He was a huge guy, he always had been, even in elementary school but now that size was being put to good use. He was the Bon Temps Hawks quarterback and all he did was eat, play football, play bass and sleep. If we didn't make it as a band he would make it into the NFL; Alcide's future was bright. _

_"Terry is a stoner who misses practice more than he attends it." Bill took a long sip of his water. "We are looking for a new drummer.__" __His word was final. __"__How many more people do we still have to watch today?" He asked me. _

_Bill and I were friends because I knew how to play four instruments, guitar, bass, piano and violin. He was a year older than me and it was rare anyone older would befriend someone younger, but Bill wanted to be in a band and he wanted to play with the best. Apparently I was it. _

_I looked at the clipboard. "We have three people left." I said pulling at my red flannel shirt. I was going through a Nirvana phase. _

_Bill pushed the hair out of his face, we all had the same long shagged haircuts-in our eyes, over our ears, covering our foreheads. He was wearing a Led Zeppelin t-shirt and the same ripped jeans I was. He looked over at the nerdy freshman girl we employed to corral all the 'talent'. "Send the next one in." _

_I rubbed my eyes and yawned. "I swear if I hear another Jimi Hendrix song I'm going to lose my mind." _

_"Samesies." Alcide agreed. _

_We all looked up when the tallest girl I had ever seen walked across the stage. I knew who she was, everyone did. She was Sookie Stackhouse. Her mother abandoned her and her brother once her father died of cancer eight years prior and she was forced to live with her grandmother. Her brother was a dropout and the Stackhouse's were generally looked down upon with the exception of her grandmother Adele. _

_She was at least 5'11 and thin but not skinny with long wavy blonde hair and awkward features that would become beautiful once she grew into them. She wore a white tank top, tight black jeans and knee high bikers boots. This was her usually style, but I had never noticed the tattoo on the underside of her upper arm and I was too far away to make out what it was. A Fender was strapped around her shoulder._

_"What's your name?" Bill asked; he was trying to play this completely aloof, the Simon Cowell of our group, but he knew exactly who she was. She was the girl we all secretly wanted to get with because of her 'I don't give a fuck' attitude. Her mystery made her hot-even if none of us were willing to admit it because she didn't look __'__acceptable__' __high school hot. _

_"Sookie Stackhouse." She said adjusting the guitar strap. "You put an ad in the school news paper and the Bon Temp Times looking for a guitarist and here I am." _

_"What are you gonna play for us Sookie?" Alcide asked. _

"_'A Bullet With Butterfly Wings__'__." She looked smug like she knew we thought she'd be shit and she couldn't wait to prove us wrong. _

_"The Smashing Pumpkins song?" I asked shocked by her choice. _

_"That's the one." She smirked at me as she plugged in her guitar. She strummed it a few times to check the sound and make sure it was in tune. Already I knew she'd be different. "I'm gonna sing too, is that cool?" _

_"Whatever you'd like." Bill said calmly. "It's your audition."_

_"Okay, I'm gonna play the whole song so don't try and stop me." Her lips twisted into a skewed smile as she stepped up to the microphone and began to sing. _

The world is a vampire, sent to drain/Secret destroyers, hold you up to the flames/And what do I get, for my pain/Betrayed desires, and a piece of the game

_Every other person who auditioned played some huge elaborate song, usually Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix, trying to pack in as many notes as they could with the hopes of impressing us, but Sookie wasn't doing that. That wasn't what _this_ was; this song was a great song, a song that could fully express her talent without being too obvious. She didn't have to be. I could tell by the way she was playing that she was not going to support me-she was our lead guitarist. _

Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage/Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage/Someone will say, "What is lost can never be saved"/Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage

_She started singing the chorus and the guitar tore through the auditorium and knocked the wind out of me. She had no support-no bass line, no percussion-yet the sound was full. I grabbed Bill's knee to let him know I was impressed. I looked over at him to see nothing but a blank expression. Even though he was trying to cover up what he was thinking like he always did, his pupils were dilated, I could see the vein in his neck beating furiously and his hands were balled into tight fists. Alcide had a look of awe on his face. _

Now I'm naked, nothing but an animal/But can you fake it, for just one more show/And what do you want, I want to change/And what have you got when you feel the same

_This was the girl. No ifs, ands or buts. _

Even though I know, I suppose I'll show/All my cool and cold, like old job

_The chorus came around again and a powerful voice poured out of her; you could hear her rage, her conviction, the pain and the anger of being fatherless, abandoned, the sister of a fuck up, the school outcast and it was fucking beautiful. As a musician there was nothing better than someone who could play their instrument and play it well. _

Tell me I'm the only one/Tell me there's no other one/Jesus was an only son/Tell me I'm the chosen one/Jesus was an only son for you

_The awkwardness in her features and her too long limbs was gone. She looked like rockstar-this was easy for her, effortless. She was perfectly at home on the stage, becoming one with the instrument. _

Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a/Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a/Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage

_I knew there were plenty of other people who could play guitar like this, but there was something about her; a quality you either had or you didn't. A quality that intrigued people, that made them curious. Hers was so strong that it scared people away. I wasn't sure if it was a quality I possessed and while I was in awe of her, I also envied her. I was jealous of her talent, a talent I may never acquire, but I couldn't let my ego get the best of me. If she was great it would force me to be better and the band would be better because of it. We needed her. _

_She looked right at us for the last lines of the song, a self-satisfied smile on her face knowing she had floored us. _

And I still believe that I cannot be saved/And I still believe that I cannot be saved/And I still believe that I cannot be saved/And I still believe that I cannot be saved

_She finished and took a step away from the microphone as she pushed her hair back and wiped the sweat off her brow. _

_Alcide, Bill and myself didn't move while the freshman clapped furiously followed by a quick, "whoo!" We all turned our heads to look at her for a moment and she turned red as she sank back into her seat. We all turned back to look at Sookie. _

_When none of us did anything she moved back to the microphone. "That was it." She stared at us as we wrapped our head around what we had just witnessed. "Do want me to leave?" She shrugged, her voice laced with irritation at our lack of feedback. _

_"Yes, can you please step outside for a moment while we discuss?" Bill asked. _

_She sighed. "Alright." She slung her guitar around her back and exited through the side door, opposite the one she came in. _

_Alcide and I stood immediately making noises of excitement. "Holy shit!" Alcide exclaimed. _

_"That was amazing." I beamed. _

_"It was okay." Bill said quietly. _

_"How did no one know she could play like this?" I asked baffled. "You think someone in the school would have discovered her talent by now." _

_"I knew she could play. I just didn't know it would be like that." Bill's face was still steely as he stared at the place she just stood in. _

_Alcide and I looked at him with confused looks on our faces. "You knew she could play and never suggested her?" I asked running my hand through my hair. "I thought you wanted the best. She's it." _

_"My dad teaches music; she's in his class and he talks about her a lot. I knew, I just didn't think she was right for the band." He shrugged. _

_"Why not?" I questioned. _

_"Do you really want to give up your position as lead guitarist to her?" Bill inquired crossing his arms. _

_"To her? Yes, it'll free me up to do so much more. I can learn to play new instruments to add to our sound. No not add-it'll give us A sound. It's been two years and we've only written three songs. Maybe she's exactly what we need." I paused looking at him. "Why are you so against her?"_

_"Why do you care so much? Is it because you have a crush on her?" He cocked an eyebrow. _

_"Why are you being such a dick?" I asked completely confused. "And for the record everyone in this school wants to fuck her, okay? It's like the unspoken guy code." I looked over at Alcide. "Right?" _

_He nodded. "She's hot in a way my brain doesn't understand." _

_"I think you don't want her in the band because she's more talented than you." I put my hands on my hips. _

_He scoffed. "Now who's being a dick?" He rubbed his face and sighed. "Fine, okay, she's amazing and we need to have her in the band." _

_Alcide smiled. "Yes!" He reached over to give me a high five. _

_"The female dynamic is always a recipe for disaster though. Just sayin'." Bill said grabbing the clipboard and circling her name. _

_"What does that mean?" I questioned. _

_"I mean three guys in a band with a girl we all want to fuck...that's gonna cause problems." He looked over at the freshman. "Amanda, tell the other two to go home." She sprang up and quickly left the auditorium. _

_"I'm sure once we get to know her the allure will go away. She'll become more of a sister than a person of interest." I reasoned. _

_"Fine, but one day I _know_ I'll get to say I told you so." He sighed again as Alcide sat back down. "Bring her back in." Bill motioned towards the door. _

_I ran over to the side door and stuck my head out. She was sitting on the floor playing the guitar. The song didn't sound familiar-it could have possibly been something of her own composition. "You can come in now." I smiled at her. _

_She stood and sauntered casually through the door I was holding open for her. She smelled fruity, probably whatever spray she could find at the local drug store like most girls our age. She headed for the stage, guitar in hand. "Hey!" I shouted at her, "you can come sit here with us. The audition is over." _

_She nodded and followed me back to where Bill and Alcide were sitting. I was excited, partly because I was intrigued by her, but mostly because with her in the band we had an actual chance of making it. _

_I took my original seat and she sat in the row in front of us, turning her body to look at the three of us. "So am I in or what?" She asked bluntly. _

_"That was really good Sookie." Bill praised her with a cool voice. _

_"I know." She agreed. _

_"You're a junior, right?" He questioned. _

_She nodded. "Yep and you two are seniors," she said pointing at me and Alcide, "and you__'__re victory lapping." She grinned pointing at Bill. A victory lap was when a senior took an extra year of high school to gain courses they may have missed or needed for college. In Bill's case a victory lap was just a time suck so he didn't have to make any real decisions about his life. _

_"That's right." He laughed and flashed that charming Compton smile. "Where did you learn to play like that?" _

_She shrugged and pulled her hair back as she tied it into a ponytail. "My dad used to play and when he died I inherited the guitar. I wanted to know how to play, but no one could teach me. So I went to the library and checked out a book on guitar cords." _

_"You learned how to play like that from a book?" I asked stunned. _

_"Well not just from a book. I mean, I taught myself the cords and I listened to all kinds of music, learning how each cord sounded in different ways. Then I just kept playing until I could compose. Joining band in freshman year was incredibly helpful." She looked at Bill. "Your father is a good teacher." _

_We all nodded. "Well, we want you to be in the band!" Alcide said excitedly. _

_"Alcide," Bill chided and looked back at Sookie. "Yes, we'd like you to join the band." _

_"Cool." She smiled, her first real smile since she had stepped out in front of us. She had a prominent gap in her teeth that made her look sweet and not as intimidating or mean. The mystery was already lifting, she'd be a friend in no time and _I_ would get to tell Bill 'I told you so'._

_"Tomorrow we are doing this again to find a drummer and then Thursday is practice. Can you be there for both?" Bill asked. _

_"I'll have to switch my shift around but I should be able to make the Thursday practice." Sookie worked at Bellefleur's, the best pub in town. Bill had been trying to get us a gig there since the band had been formed, but he was always unsuccessful. _

_She stood and grabbed her guitar. "If it helps, I know a girl in band who's a pretty sweet drummer. She can sing too and has expressed interest in joining a new band. I mean, I can invite her to the practice and if it doesn't work then we'll do auditions." She stared at Bill already realizing he was the ring leader. "Sound good?" She asked, already half way out the door. _

_Bill rolled his eyes. "Just make sure she brings her own equipment." _

_She gave a throaty laugh. "Will do," she said as she left the auditorium. _

_Bill stared at where she disappeared through the door and sighed. "I really fucking hope this works. I'll text Terry and tell him he's out." He stood and left through the back door. _

_"We're gonna be rockstars, man!" Alcide smiled widely and leaned back in his seat as he munched on his chips again. _

_While we didn't have a name yet-that would come later-that was the day Perihelion was born. _

_It was also the day I started believing in fate._

* * *

><p><strong>What did you all think? <strong>

**I love the flashbacks, I really love writing from Eric****'****s point of view. **

**I have put a link to the song Sookie sings on my profile, A Bullet with Butterfly Wings by The Smashing Pumpkins. It****'****s a pretty amazing song if you****'****ve never heard it. **

**Thank you so much for reading and please leave a review if you can!**


	6. Have You Written Anything Lately?

**A/N: Thank you to sugarspinsister, wendy1969, mindy781, kinnik, MsNorthman, coven mama, outinritefield1, ciasteczko, foxgoddess07, Perfecta999, Estrella75, LostInSpace33, Kate, ashmo2000, Beth - Geek Chick, suzyq59 and the guest who reviewed the last chapter. I really appreciate it. Also a big thank you to everyone who, favourites, follows or just reads the story. **

**Thanks to my beta kelpie169 for catching all my errors. **

**Estrella75 asked for a phonetic breakdown of the band name Perihelion and this is it, (per-uh-hee-lee-uh n). If you go to ** ** you can hear how it****'****s pronounced. In later chapters it will be discussed how they ended up with the name. **

**For all the readers of Summer Nights I just want to say that I am working on new chapters. I****'****m hitting a critical part in the story and I want everything to be perfect. So do not fret, I have not abandoned it, I just want to make sure I get it right. **

**Also I use actual music as Periheilon****'****s music. I like to have an actual soundtrack. If they sing a song in a chapter I will list the title in my end notes and will have a link to the song on my profile if any of you have any interest as to what they sound like. **

**We are back to Sookie****'****s point of view.**

* * *

><p>The day we left for Brazil was freezing. I was wearing a heavy coat over a thick beige cord sweater, layered over a Bowie T-shirt with a black tank top underneath. Eric and I were in the car with the heat on full blast and I was still freezing.<p>

I wanted a cigarette desperately, but Eric and I had decided to give them up the night before. My middle and index finger on my left hand were rubbing together in quick, hasty movements while I was biting the skin on my right thumb. "Can I just have one?"

"No." Eric said looking out the window.

He was annoying me and I knew I was annoying him. We were going to be annoyed with everyone we came in contact with today. For two people whose job was 70% traveling we were terrible, cranky, nightmarish travellers.

We had been getting along extraordinarily well for the past three days; sleeping in late, eating a lot, watching movies and writing music. We hadn't written a whole song, but we had pieces. The holes would be patched when we reunited with the rest of the band. I was annoyed because I didn't want to leave the bubble Eric and I had created. Even though we were going to paradise, I knew our time there would be anything but.

"I have a feeling everything is going to be different when we get back from this trip." Eric whispered, startling me. Despite his soft words, his eyes were still firmly fixed on the road. "I haven't decided if it's a good or bad thing yet."

"Of course everything is going to be different." His comment irritated me and I turned to glare at him. "We're trying to rebuild our band with a person we didn't form it with. It'll be different." I was still staring at him, willing him to look at me.

He didn't; he continued to look out the window as we drove out of Manhattan towards JFK Airport. He didn't say anything for a long time and his silence was doing nothing to improve my mood. "Yeah, that's probably it." He finally said, but he sounded like he didn't really believe it.

"Are you okay?" I asked him. He was being weirder than usual. I knew he was going to be off today, but instead of being snappy, rude and instigating a fight at every turn, he was quiet.

He turned to look at me and the corner of his mouth tried to pull up into a smile, but the smile never came. "I'm just not looking forward to this ten hour flight." He placed his hand on mine and gave it a quick squeeze to reassure me.

He looked out the window again, his hands never leaving mine, and we drove in silence the rest of the way to the airport.

When we arrived, we fought the hoards of paparazzi and made our way into the terminal where we were greeted by Russell. "There are my lovebirds." He smiled with open arms, expecting a hug.

Eric batted Russell's arms away and I pushed my sunglasses up so they were sitting on my head.

"Russell, we are in no fucking mood for your shit today." I spat. "Can we please just check in?" I pleaded, nearly desperate to escape the paparazzi that had followed us.

The things they were shouting were beginning to anger me; most of them were about Bill, though a few were about Eric. The fact that Eric and I were together in public again would help fuel the rumours of our supposed budding romance.

I wanted to get past security so I wouldn't have to deal with them anymore. "Are you the one that planted that story about Eric and I being a couple?" I asked as we headed to the check in counter.

"No," Russell retorted, almost offended. "I don't need to make up stories about your band anymore. You're all quite capable of giving the tabloids a story without my help."

"So you're not the inside source?" I inquired.

He scoffed. "Oh please Sookie, you've been in this business for a decade. You should know by now there never _is_ an inside source."

I made a noise of frustration as we approached the platinum express line to get us through as quickly as possible. Once it was our turn, Russell started rattling off information to the ticket agent. "Are you not coming with us?" Eric asked hopefully.

Russell shook his head. "I'll be coming down in three weeks time. I have some things to deal with here and I think it's important that the band spend some time alone together without the label." He smiled warmly, but it was still fake. That was why I hated Russell so much. At least if he was honest about being an asshole I could respect him, but his phoniness was something I could not abide.

"That's un-like you Russell." I smirked at him as I turned my attention back to the ticket agent as she handed Eric's and my passports back to us.

Russell shrugged as we began checking luggage and arguing with the attendant about bringing our guitars on the plane. I wanted my guitar to help pass the time; the girl helping us was unsure if we were allowed to bring them on and she needed to call the manager.

Thirty minutes, five autographs, three photos and a lot of negotiating later, the manager decided we could bring them on. But we had to pay extra to do so.

Once everything was settled, we left Russell and headed towards security. He told us that Alcide, Debbie, LaFayette, Tara and Eggs were already on the other side. Sam and Luna would be coming into Brazil the next day.

Security was a nightmare, which was to be expected, and our guitars were scanned and checked throughly. Finally we were cleared and allowed to go on through. By that point Eric and I were both on our last nerve.

We made our way over to the gate and approached the first class lounge. Flight attendants checked our passports and tickets before allowing us inside. Thankfully, the only people in the lounge were the members of Perihelion and their significant others.

My irritation subsided when I saw them all. I hadn't seen Debbie in nearly six months but she was exactly the same-tiny, red haired and bubbly. She was always smiling and her dancers body made her movements rhythmic as she came towards me. "Sookie!" She exclaimed wrapping her arms around my waist.

I laughed. "Hey Debbie," I squeezed her back, "how are you?" I asked. She was wearing black yoga pants and an oversized Perihelion t-shirt tied off at the side.

"Great! I'm really good, just finished touring with Beyoncé, so this vacation couldn't have come at a better time!" Her smile fell. "I'm sorry about Bill, what he did wasn't cool. I mean, to you and to the band. Do you still not know where he is?" She inquired.

I shook my head and swallowed hard. "His parents are trying to keep us all updated, but he's not speaking to them much either." I didn't want to talk about this. I was doing better, but I was no where near fine.

"I wonder what made him do this?" She pondered out loud, not expecting an answer.

I answered her anyway. "I wish I knew." I smiled at her sadly. She registered my unease and smiled brilliantly as she attempted to change the subject.

"I'm so happy we're doing this." She sang as she ran back over to Alcide. "Look who's here, baby!" She said to her husband as he looked up and waved.

"You look good, Sook. Eric fattening you up?" He joked.

"It would appear that way." I spat as I shot him a glare.

"Everyone is in on it; our plan is to cook and eat you." He winked.

"You're such a weirdo." I laughed as I rolled my eyes and shook my head before approaching Eggs.

"Hey Eggs, how are you?" He pulled me into a hug. Eggs was one of our sound technicians when we were on tour. It had been almost eight months since I'd seen him.

"I'm good, Legs. How are you?" He smiled kindly. He was an inch shorter than Eric, but much more muscular. He took pride in his body and you could see the hours he had spent at the gym. The size of his biceps and the strength in his leg muscles was ridiculous.

"I'm... better." I said honestly.

"You look good. I like the hair." He ran is hands through it, no doubt messing it up. "It'll be nice for us to hang out like this. Life just gets so busy."

I nodded. "I'm looking forward to it as well." It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't entirely the truth either. I hugged a calm and droopy eyed Tara, but she didn't say anything. She just embraced me back. She hated flying and self medicated before every flight.

I took a seat in-between Eric and LaFayette as we waited for the flight to board. "Where's your husband?" I asked LaFayette.

"He'll be coming over in a week. He couldn't take his vacation time right away because it's just after the holidays, but he'll be over soon." He smiled at me.

"What does he do?" I inquired.

"He's in advertising. You know those Snickers commercials? The ones, 'you're not really yourself-"

"'Eat a snickers.' Yeah those commercials are funny." I smiled finishing his sentence.

"That was his idea." He smiled proudly and we sat in silence together. "Thank you, by the way." He said quietly.

I looked over at him with a furrowed brow. "For what?"

"For accepting me so easily. I know what happened here, between you all. Your history, the fights, all the drama at the Fleetwood Mac tribute. Your relationship with Bill, how you built this empire with him...and you just let me in." His eyes would occasionally fall on me, but they darted from point to point in the room. "I figured there would be weeks of fighting tooth and nail for any of you to agree to let me join. But that wasn't the case."

I let out a long shaky sigh. "Bill made a choice and we had to make a choice in response to that. Just because you're here doesn't mean it's going to work. _But_ if it's gonna work with anyone, we want to try and make it work with you." I smiled at him. "Where are you from originally?" I asked, effectively changing the subject.

"New York City-born and raised." He said proudly. "You're all from a small town in Louisiana, right? Bon Temps?" He guessed.

"Did you read our Wikipedia pages?" I joked with him.

He laughed. "I did, but Sonnet gave me files on every one of you."

"That's creepy." I admitted. I knew Sonnet probably kept tabs on the band, but not to that degree.

"I think they wanted to ease my transition. It's hard to feel like an outsider when I know everything about you guys." He grinned and it was a calming smile. LaFayette had an aura about him; he just made me feel relaxed.

"I suppose that's true." I chuckled before pointing at him sternly. "The label is the enemy by the way. Fight them on everything...even if you agree with them."

"Why?"

"So when everything works and the record sells and we get five hits off one album, they'll keep giving us more and more power because in the end we were right." I grinned.

"That's smart."

I shrugged. "It took two albums to learn that, but it's worked to our advantage ever since." I changed the subject again. "You were originally a session musician?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"Can you write?"

"I'd like to think so."

I smiled at him slyly. "This isn't going to be what you're used to. You're not just going to be told what to play and when. You're going to have to get creative."

"I'm counting on it." He cocked an eyebrow and his lips pulled up into a half smile.

I grinned as I rearranged myself in the chair as I tried to get comfortable. I was impressed that he didn't crumble under my questioning. The more I learned about him, the more I felt like he was the right fit.

It was another forty agonizing minutes before we were allowed to board. We found our seats quickly and I shed most of my layers, revealing my Bowie t-shirt. I waited nervously, my leg bouncing as I chewed my thumbnail. I hated take off and landings. I gripped the arm rest as the plane jolted forward, ascending smoothly into the air. When I finally calmed down, Eric and I took out our guitars and notebooks.

Tara had already passed out, so Alcide and LaFayette gathered round Eric and I. Alcide pulled out his bass and began to tune it. "Did they give you shit trying to get that thing on here?" I asked pointing at the instrument. He was wearing a Radiohead t-shirt and some sweatpants.

He shook his head. "Naw, they just told me security may need to take a special look at it."

"Who checked you in?" Eric asked tuning the guitar. "Our girl gave us a hard time." Eric was wearing loose fitting jeans and a Nirvana t-shirt.

"I don't know some young overweight dude." He shrugged finding the most comfortable position to sit in. He was sitting in the seat in front of me, Eric was sitting across from me in the aisle and LaFayette was in front of him. LaFayette was also in jeans wearing a basic plaid button down.

"Okay, so have you guys been writing anything lately?" Eric asked before we were interrupted.

"Are you guys Perihelion?" A strange voice asked us.

We looked up to see three girls in their early twenties. They were all blonde, but their hair looked fried and brittle and they wore too much make-up. They were wearing strapless bondage dresses; I shuddered internally. Way too uncomfortable for a ten hour flight. It made me wonder what they had been doing in New York or what they were planning to do in Brazil that made them look they way they did. Ultimately, it was none of my business. I just wanted to get through this fan encounter and get back to the music.

All the girls had a smile on their face and their phones at the ready in their hands. "Yeah, we are." I said shortly.

"Can we get a photo?" The shortest of the three asked.

We couldn't say we were in a rush or that we needed to be somewhere - we were all stuck in a tube together for the next ten hours. So we stood and smiled and took photo after photo as I waited for one of them to ask me about Bill or who LaFayette was. To my surprise, not a single girl did.

"Can I ask you guys something?" The blondest of the three asked.

We all shifted uncomfortably waiting for the Bill question to be asked. "Can you play one of your songs?" I saw a flush in her cheeks as her gaze landed on Eric. The look was innocent,but also hungry and I rolled my eyes.

Eric sighed as he plastered a fake simile on his face. "I don't know if we can. I think it would disrupt the other passengers." He was trying to be as polite as possible.

"I don't think it would be a problem." The one with the most make-up proclaimed. She turned to look at all the other first class passengers. "Do you all want to hear Perihelion sing a song?" She shouted.

The whole cabin started to clap and cheer, even the flight staff. I shot Eric a quick look trying to gauge if he wanted to do this. LaFayette was also cautious while Alcide was smiling ear to ear.

"See, no one has a problem with it." The blondest one smirked as she leaned over a seat, her breasts nearly spilling out of her dress.

"Okay." Eric bit out through gritted teeth. He and I sat down and picked up our acoustic guitars.

"What do you want to hear?" Eric inquired.

"'Instant Pleasure'. If you can?" She smiled sweetly, which caused another over exaggerated eye roll from me. Of course she would pick this song.

Eric looked up at me, asking silently if this was something we could do. I nodded.

We situated ourselves as Alcide and LaFayette prepared themselves as well. Eric looked to me one final time before he nodded slowly. "1, 2, 3..." And we started to play. This was the moment we stopped being individuals and we became a unit; we **became** Perihelion.

Eric took lead vocals.

_I don't want somebody to love me/ Just give me sex whenever I want it_

The girls swooned as we entertained the entire first class cabin and Tara slept blissfully on.

_Cause all I ask for is instant pleasure, instant pleasure, instant pleasure _

It was the first time we had performed with LaFayette who actually knew the song; he must have learned our entire catalogue. He, Alcide and I all supported Eric vocally and they clapped to fill the lulls in the guitar; this got the whole cabin clapping if they weren't filming us.

_Think that all these folks get laid/Do it 'cause their pain is great/What you thinkin' anyways?_

I looked up at Eric and smiled. His voice really was exquisite, all our voices were. Fate was the only thing that could explain putting together a group with the talents we all had. He looked happy as he sang and I couldn't help but feel the warmth that performing brought with it.

_If drinkin' coffee's your idea of really cool/You can't expect no crazy chick to notice you/Just sittin' there dreamin' instant pleasure, instant pleasure, instant pleasure_

We finished the song to a round of applause louder than I would have liked and graciously took a bow.

"That was awesome." The busty girl cooed as she looked over at Eric. "If you need anything, I'll be sitting right over there." She gave him a sexy smile and winked before heading back to her seat.

Debbie and I were all over him the moment the girls were seated. "If you need anything, I'll be sitting right over there." We said in unison in high squeaky voices. I looked over at Debbie and laughed as she slapped me a high five.

"I can't help if girls want to fuck me." He said with a smirk.

"You'd think after ten years I'd be used to the obviousness of it, but my God! The desperation is incredible." I said as I shook my head.

"People want to feel important and sometimes the only way they can is to be near someone they think is important. They have no interest in me, just what I represent." He said flipping to a page in his notebook with all the scattered lyrics we had written in the past week. "I think we should build on this." He pointed to a cluster of words and I leaned over the aisle to look at it.

_These changes ain't changing me/ the cold-hearted boy I used to be_

"I don't know why, but I like it." He said strumming the guitar.

"We can build off that." I said flipping through my own book. I looked up at Alcide and LaFayette, picking up where Eric left off before we were interrupted. "Have either of you written anything?"

And off we went; blending verses together, creating a solid chorus and finding the chords to go along with it.

After two hours we had a pretty decent song. We all knew that it would need tweaking, but the fact that we had something made us all hopeful.

We put our instruments away and settled in for the rest of the long trip. I watched a movie and then slept for the rest of the flight. Eric nudged me awake as we were descending and I sighed with relief knowing we'd be on solid ground soon.

Eric was smiling at me.

"Why are you smiling like that?" I narrowed my eyes at him as I sat up straight. I was fully alert and brought my hands to my face, fearfully patting over my skin. "You didn't draw on me again, did you?" I asked with a squeaky, fear laced voice.

He huffed, a small grin pulling at the corners of his mouth. "I can't believe you are **still** bringing that up. That was four years ago and, in my defence, you can't tell me you want your life to be more like _Friends_ just before we get on a plane and then expect me not to draw a moustache on you." He shrugged. "At least it wasn't permanent. It came off with a wet nap."

"I was photographed with that moustache on my face!" I reported with irritation.

"I know." He started laughing hysterically. "It's a little funny."

I shook my head, trying not to smile as he continued to giggle like a school girl.

Once the plane landed, we gathered our things and headed towards customs. We claimed our luggage and we were picked up by a rep for Sonnet Indie. It was a thirty minute car ride and then a twenty minute boat ride to get to the island, which was indeed as beautiful as Russell had said. We docked and walked towards the house we'd call home for the next month or so.

We approached the side of the house first which faced the ocean and beach. A deck surrounded the side and back of the house. A Jacuzzi sat in the middle of the deck closer to the beach and a large infinity pool sat closer to the back. A fire pit with cushioned seating was built into the deck closer to the structure, a large BBQ and a table for eating was positioned off to the side and random chairs were scattered over the place.

The house had two floors. I could see bedrooms through floor to ceiling windows that could be opened facing the ocean. We passed one as we stepped onto a stone path and entered the house through the front door.

The foyer was small in comparison to the rest of the house. The floors were white marble which carried up onto the walls. To my left was a large closet and in front of me was a long black wood table against the wall which had a vase full of exotic flowers on top of it. There was a dark circular rug right in the middle of the space and a spectacular multi-tiered chandelier over head.

We left our luggage at the door only carrying our carry-on into the house which opened up into a cavernous living space. The ceiling was glass which would let in large amounts of light during the day. I could see the upper floors on either side of the house through the glass. The floors and walls were still marble except for a wall of sliding glass doors that opened to the deck we all saw just moments before.

A sunken living room sat farthest from the sliding doors on the far wall centred in the middle of the room. Three steps led down to an area with three black sofas lining the space. A black wood coffee table sat in the middle with a creme coloured rug under foot and a large flat screen tv mounted to the wall.

Next to the living space was a kitchen. A long black marble island ran along the entire length of the space and had a stainless steel flat top stove in the middle. Along the far wall was a stainless steel fridge, microwave and two ovens were a part of a large black wood wall unit. Hidden cupboards were built into the wall unit hiding whatever food items had been purchased for us. Open shelves housed all our dinnerware and glasses.

"If you need anything food wise." The representative said, "input the item into this iPad and it will be brought to you with one of the bi-weekly shopping trips." He was pointing at the iPad built into the fridge. He spent a moment teaching us how to use it.

A long black wood dining table ran along the space between the living and kitchen area and the sliding glass doors.

On either side of the room were two hallways. "What are down these?" I asked not knowing which one to go down first.

"These lead to the bedrooms, den and the gym." The representative said. "There are six bedrooms on the tops floors and one on the bottom floor."

"I shotty the one on the ground floor." I announced loudly.

"All the rooms are assigned. Each space has been tailored to each one of you but luckily for you Ms. Stackhouse the bottom floor has been given to you." He smiled mildly.

"Yes." I pumped my fist a few times in celebration and headed to my bedroom. Eric's room was on this side of the house as well so he followed me.

A sign was hanging off the white wooden door which lead to my room, it read 'Ms. Stackhouse' on it in elegant handwriting.

"Ooooooo, Ms. Stackhouse, let me get your door for you." Eric joked in a posh British accent, his nose held high in the air.

The room was large with a king size bed against the side wall. It was covered with white linen and black bedsheets. The white marble ran into the bedroom and black rugs were placed on either side of the bed. A long rug ran from the door to the en suite bathroom. Opposite the bed were a wall of sliding glass doors that opened to a small elevated patio which overlooked the deck, beach and ocean. Black wood night tables, dressers and an armoire lined the walls.

I threw my bags on the bed and walked into the bathroom.

"The designer of this place really liked black and white, huh?" Eric stated as he looked around my room. "I hope my room is this nice." He sat down on the bed.

The bathroom walls were covered in tiny black tiles and ran onto the floor. There was a large vanity and sink, huge walk in shower and a massive basin tub that I was definitely going to put to good use. I walked out of the bathroom and looked at Eric. "I like it."

"Well if you like that's all that matters." He smiled at me before he stood. "Let's go back out."

When we re-entered the main living area everyone was gathered around the bar. Germaine, the Sonnet representative was giving everyone a lesson on how the bar worked. "This is the bar, fully stocked, if you run out of something input it into the iPad." He paused and reached behind the bar as we met up with the group. "And this is something more of the herbal variety." He pulled out a colossal bag of weed. It had to be at least three pounds.

"That is fucking huge bag of weed." LaFayette said dumbfounded like we all were by the size of it.

"Yes it is, LaLa, yes it is." Eric said creating LaFayette's nickname already.

Germaine sighed and clasped his hands together looking at us. "I can't think of anything else, does anyone have any questions?"

"What do we do if we want to go to the mainland?" Eggs asked.

"Unfortunately, for the next three weeks you're stuck on the island. Once Russell arrives you can ask him and he'll arrange something for you." He smiled professionally, fake and courteous. "Oh one more thing, there is no wi-fi and your data has been disabled. No internet on the island. You can make phone calls but that's it."

"Why?" Alcide questioned.

"Because the last thing any of you need is to read what people are writing about you." He paused to see if any of us would protest. When we didn't he continued. "Is that it? No more questions?" We all shook our heads. "Wonderful." He turned and without a goodbye left.

We all turned and faced each other. "Well I'm exhausted so I hope you all don't mind if Eggs and I go to bed." Tara asked snuggling up next to her boyfriend.

"Us too, that was an incredibly long flight and I didn't sleep at all." Debbie said stretching.

"That's alright," I smiled, it really was, it was nearly midnight our time, almost three Brazil time.

"I should probably turn in too, I'll see you guys tomorrow." LaFayette said to Eric and I as he turned to go upstairs following the two couples.

I looked over at Eric. "Are you going to bed too?" I asked.

"I could," he grinned at me, "or we can smoke some weed and talk until we pass out." He proposed.

I nodded. "That, let's do that."

And then we got high, opened my patio doors to let the air in and lied on my bed. "Since this retreat is supposed to be about reflection, what is your favourite band memory?" He asked me taking his shirt off. Tattoos covered his pecs, his upper and lower abdomen and hips trailing down his lower V. I couldn't see his back but I knew it was covered.

I had seen Eric naked so many times because of costume changes and living on a bus together, his bare skin barely phased me. "My favourite memory," I tapped my lower lip as I thought. "The first time I heard 'Just' on the radio. I was being accosted by those bitches Sarah Newlin and Violet Mazurski-"

Eric cut me off. "I like Sarah Newlin."

"You like Sarah Newlin cause she let you fuck her under the bleachers during the homecoming game senior year." I shook my head.

"Well, that's not the point. Sarah wasn't that bad." He crossed his arms over his chest in a huff.

"Sarah was a fucking nightmare but whatever, anyway, they stopped me in the drug store just before we were about to go on tour. They were teasing me about how our music was bullshit and how it would never work out. Then the song started playing over the sound system almost like -"

"Fate?" He cut me off.

I nodded. "I had never been so proud of myself or us. I looked at both of them told them this was my song, gave them a bitch smile and then flipped them off before leaving. It was so satisfying" I giggled rolling close to him. "What about you?"

He breathed in deep and sighed. "I think it has to be our first practice together. You and Tara came in and changed everything. I don't really think it occurred to Bill that writing a song was a team exercise, that it could be done by anyone other than him." He sighed again and began stroking my hair. "I wish I saw him for what he was then instead of it taking sixteen years."

"Hindsights 20/20. Most people see what they want to see and Bill did a good job of making us believe we needed him." I spat out.

"You seemed to have changed your tune." Eric said looking down at me.

"I isolated myself for so long over our break up and now I'm fucking furious with him."

"It sounds like the five stages of grief." He said.

"It may as well be." I admitted. "I lost someone, we all did."

We said nothing for a long time until Eric broke the silence. "We are gonna write a killer record here, I know it."

"I want to read some of your songs tomorrow. All the ones you've written." I said getting comfortable.

"We'll see." He said quietly.

"I'm really glad you shaved you're beard." I rubbed his jaw.

"You were right, I'm far too handsome to hide my face."

I laughed lightly jabbing him in the side. "I give your ego too much fuel."

"I think it's the right amount." He pulled me closer to him. "Can I stay with you tonight?" He asked me.

"Of course." I said quietly as I nestled up to his side.

He turned off the light and I was out. I slept dreamlessly, soundly, deeply and when I woke up it was well into the afternoon and Eric was gone.

* * *

><p><strong>Was it worth the wait? They are finally on the island! Yay!<strong>

**The song they sing on the airplane is called Instant Pleasure - Rufus Wainwright. **

**The Friends episode they are talking about is called The One in Vegas where Ross draws a moustache on Rachel after she says she doesn****'****t embarrass easy. The pen doesn****'****t come off and hilarity ensues. **

**The next chapter will be from Eric****'****s POV just so you know. **

**Please don****'****t forget to review and thanks for reading. **


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